Asia-Pacific least developed countries (LDCs) continue to face structural challenges in their development processes. Such challenges are highly idiosyncratic and, in most cases, associated with disadvantages in their initial endowments and geographic features, including remoteness, costly access to international markets,insufficient human, natural and financial resources, and vulnerability to disasters.

Business as usual is not an option if the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are to be met. The scale and depth of the goals require a radically different and disruptive approach—the essence of innovation—along with significant scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements. Science, technology and innovation (STI) have the potential to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of our efforts to meet the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda and create benefits for society, the economy and the environment.

At the sixty-eighth session of the Commission, in 2012, the Bangkok Declaration on Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration in Asia and the Pacific was endorsed, which promoted a comprehensive view of regional economic cooperation and integration. Energy connectivity, with a specific focus on transboundary interconnection and power trade, can play an important role in overall regional economic cooperation and integration. It can realise mutual benefits for member States and play a role in increasing the sustainability of the energy sector.

Since 2010 when the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act was passed, the Philippines has been shifting its focus from disaster response to a holistic and proactive approach to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM), with the intent of making people more resilient to the effects of disasters.

Despite experiencing a decade of rapid economic and export growth, Asian land-locked developing countries (LLDCs) are still in a difficult position with regard to integration with the rest of the region and the global economy. This paper examines the changes in trade structure and performance of Asian LLDCs. It shows that after a decade-long global commodity boom, most of the Asian LLDCs have become resource-dependent.

The pace of economic expansion in Asia and the Pacific has slowed considerably in recent years; with the outlook clouded by uncertainty, growth is expected to plateau at about 5% for both 2016 and 2017. Sluggish exports played a significant role in this slowdown, but so did moderate domestic demand. Worse, a confluence of downside risks could lead to further moderation in the pace of growth.

The Asia-Pacific Countries with Special Needs Development Report 2016 explores ways to adapt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to the unique circumstances, capacities and levels of development of the Asia-Pacific least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, collectively referred to as countries with special needs (CSN).

ESCAP supports governments in Asia-Pacific in implementing measures to efficiently involve the private sector in infrastructure development. Developing case studies is part of this effort and promotes exchange of experience among the countries of the region.

Case 1: Traffic Demand Risk / The case of Bangkok’s Skytrain (BTS)
The following case study examines the issue of traffic demand risk and sheds light on how the problem of inaccurate ridership forecasts can impact a PPP project by using the example of the Bangkok SkyTrain.

The advent of the digital age in international trade has opened new possibilities for countries at all stages of development. Digital trade can support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and increase economic prosperity worldwide. However, many developing economies, and particularly least developed countries, often lack the digital infrastructure and legal and policy frameworks to enable their citizens to seize these opportunities.